Spearfishing Licenses & Regulations

Introduction

Each country (and region in some cases) have different laws. Here I will put the ones that I know of that have online license applications or no need to have a license, in the later case I will link the law (if I can find it, it not then please verify as I will not be held responsible). Most of the things to watch out for are:

• Individual fish size/weight
• Total catch per day (usually by weight)
• Endangered fish
• Restricted zones (marine parks, beaches, ports, boating lanes, etc)
• Some species cannot be caught if spearfishing, like lobsters, etc.
• If fishing at night is allowed
• If a flashlight is allowed (even during the day)
• Is external O2 supplies allowed (not allowed in most of the world, except USA I think)
• Is external underwater propulsion allowed or not (usually not)
• Are CO2/Compressed air guns allowed?
• Do you need a buoy? Does it need a flag? Usually you need both.

I will let you do your own research. Please feel free to comment on updates or if you want to add/contest info. Please give links to the information you find.

Croatia

• License required, since Jan. 1st 2012 they can be ordered online
• Only freediving method of fishing is allowed
• Daytime spearfishing only
• Caught fish can not be sold
• You must use buoy that is at least 30cm in diameter and that is connected to your body
• There is a daily limit in weight of 5 kg, including a single fish over 5 kg

Spain

• License required, every region has their own, can be obtained online in some regions. Some regions ask for a firearm licence to obtain a spearfishing licence.
• Catalunya has 1 year spearfishing licenses, you need a medical certificate translated into Spanish or Catalan. Your Dr. can directly write it in Spanish if he/she accepts; this saves you the translation costs. If the medical certificate is of European type you have to give them the registration numbers (AM & RPPS). RPPS is a unique number for the doctor and the AM is the medical certificate number. If you come from a country outside the EU then put what numbers you have; for a certificate from Switzerland I put the GLN instead of the RPPS and I put "000000001" for the AM since this does not yet exist here. They will check these when you submit the original medical certificate. Once all that is done you need to mail them the original medical certificate and a photocopy of your passport here: 

  Servicios Territoriales del Departamento de Agricultura
  A/a de licencias de Pesca
  Av. Meridiana, 38
  08018 Barcelona

• For the Catalan license can apply directly here, you can choose English, French, Spanish or Catalan for the language. One you have obtained the permit print out the proof of payement as the police will ask for this since fake documents circulate. They told me some regions accept their fishing permit, others no, even though all of Spain is supposed to have one license now.
• You also need a "Tarjeta federativa" (spearfishing federation membership) or a firearm license. There is a controversy around if you need the membership card/firearm license or not. The thing is the police see the speargun as a weapon thus they argue you need a permit hence the spearfishing federation membership/firearm license. I think it is safer to have one or the other and it is much easier to get the membership card. I saw in some shops they no longer sell spearguns to people that do not have the federation membership card with them. The spearfishing federation membership includes an insurance ("RC") that covers you and your speargun from damage you can cause (on people or things). You can find a list of clubs that deliver this membership here.
• I have heard that they are strict right now, especially close to the French borders. I read of someone getting fined because their buoy as round and not torpedo shaped. I looked it up in the law but saw nothing that mentioned the shape, so be careful.
• You may not have a loaded speargun outside of the water
• You must stay 25m away from boats and peers
• You must stay 250m away from bathers
• You must stay 100m away from other fisherman
• You must stay within 25m from your marker buoy
• You must repect the quotas (maximum quotas person/day): Fish 10kg/day; Cephalopods: 5kg/day; Sea Urchin 150/day; Tuna & Swordfish 2/day
• You may not use explosive (powerhreads), electrical or electronic points/tips
• You may not use light sources with the exception of hand held flashlights (so no lasers)
• You may not use propulsion devices
• You may not spearfish after dusk and before dawn (no night spearfishing)
• You can only use a mechanical means of spearfishing (no CO2/Compressed air) 
• Site in Spanish with law updates
• Official Spanish fishing regulations
• Site with the laws
• Site of the government office that manages spearfishing licences in Catalunya
• Spearfishing regulations, including where i read that you can have an "RC" insurence instead of the "Tarjeta federativa"

Italy

• Some say no license is required for spearfishing, that it is only for freshwater fishing. Some say you have to get one but they are free and it can be done online. I found this (official) online document, they don't mention spearfishing but there is a link on the bottom of that page to sign up for free. You will need a tax code to sign up, use this website to calculate it if you are not Italian.
• You cannot have a breathing apparatus (e.g. no scuba)
• You cannot use a speargun to catch crustaceans, take shellfish (with the exception of cephalopods) or coral
• You must not be within 100 meters of a fish farm
• You cannot be within 100 meters from ships anchored outside ports
• You cannot be within a shipping lane or at the entrance of a port
• You may not spearfish after dusk and before dawn (no night spearfishing)
• You must have a buoy with a red flag with a diagonal white stripe, visible at a distance of not less than 300 meters. If you have a boat it must be on a flag pole/mast. You must be within 50 meters of this flag.
• There is an ambiguity about the distance from the shore, some say that it is 100 meters (cliff, 200 meters from a beach with no swimmers) all year while others say it is just during the summer season, some say it does not apply to spearfishing because spearfishing is governed by articles 128 bis,128 ter, 129, 130 and 131.. I had a look at the fishing law, while it does say that it is not under the spearfishing section but under the line fishing section. Just be aware of this issue, the police like to give fines for this and nobody tried to fight it with a lawyer (to my knowledge). See here for some info.
• You cannot have a loaded speargun outside of the water
• You cannot catch more than 5 kg total of fish/cephalopods per day except in the case of individual fish weighing more. You cannot catch more than one Grouper a day.
• Official law
• Spearfishing federation site (has laws also and other info)

France

• Since July 18th 2009 you no longer need a license or to be part of a club, all you need is a Civil Insurance (Assurance RC in French) covering spearfishing. I assume the document proving you are covered mush be in French, maybe English also works too. This insurance must specifically cover spearfishing and any damage you could inflict on a person or object and you must carry this document on you
• You need valid ID
• You must be over 16 years old
• You cannot have a loaded speargun outside of the water
• You cannot point a speargun at someone
• You must have a buoy
• You cannot have a breathing apparatus (e.g. no scuba)
• You may not spearfish after dusk and before dawn (no night spearfishing)
• You cannot sell the fish
• You must mark the fish by cutting the bottom part of the Caudal fin (tail)
• You can only use a mechanical means of spearfishing (no CO2/Compressed air)
• You cannot use a speargun to catch crustaceans
• You cannot steal someone else's fish
• You cannot use flashlights (during the day)
• You cannot use a propulsion device
• You cannot be on a boat that has SCUBA equipment and a speargun, even if you are not wearing the equipment
• You cannot be within 100 meters of a fish farm
• You cannot be within 150 meters of a boat, a dock or a port
• You cannot be in a swimming zone or a zone reserved for nautical sports (jet ski, water skiing, wind surf, etc)
• Grouper (Mérou in French) and the Brown Meagre (Corb in French) are protected
• Official French spearfishing law
• Good website with spearfishing law articles

Portugal

• I have heard you need a license (see here), someone told me no need if you are a tourist and staying less than a month. It is hard to know which is correct, all I know is that you can get a permit from a "Multibanco" (ATM) machine but it does not work with a foreign card. I was told no but you can get a local to buy it for you with his/her card (be sure to use your personal info though) if you ask and offer to pay in advance. If staying in a hotel then ask the hotel for help.
• For the Multibanco procedure, here are some tips: For the ID Card apparently you can enter the passport number preceded by a zero. The taxpayer ID and phone number are not compulsory
• I read that there is a special licence available for tourists, "Licença Especial", for visiting anglers without a Portuguese Residency Permit (Cartão de Residencia), I have not found any other info on this nor do I know it this is valid for spearfishing.

The ATM (Multibanco) procedure steps in Portuguese

      - Introducing the Portuguese Multibanco card and respective PIN
Then either:
      - Pagamento de Serviços
      - Pagamento ao Estado
Or:
      - Estado e Sector Publico
Then:
      - Licenciamento de Pesca Lúdica
      - (Select the licence type wanted)
         . Pesca submarina (Spearfishing)
         . Pesca Apeada (Fishingfrom land)
         . Pesca de Embarcação (Fishing from a boat)
      - Seleccione a área de operação pretendida (Select region)
         . Local/Regional (Select the region)
            * Norte (North, in and north of the Douro river)
            * Centro (Centre, in and between the Douro and Tejo rivers)
            * Sul (South, in and south of the Tejo river)
         . Nacional (National, the whole country)
      - Selecione a Capitania que pretende operar (Select Port Authority according to the area you'll be             fishing)
      - Seleccione a validade pretendida (Select validity)
         . 1 mês (1 month)
         . 1 ano (1 year)
         . 3 anos (3 years)
      - Then its the identification process :
      - ID card (can be passport number preceded by a zero)
      - Tax payer (Not mandatory)
      - Phone number (Not mandatory)

Here are some links I used to get this info.

1. http://www.idesporto.pt/DATA/DOCS/LEGISLACAO/Doc007.pdf
2. http://www.riac.azores.gov.pt/riac/conteudos/servico/servico46.htm
3. http://www.icnf.pt/portal/pesca/pdesportiva/licencas/lic-pescadesportiva
4. http://www.dgrm.min-agricultura.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=dgrm&xpgid=genericPage&conteudoDetalhe=173085
5. http://dre.pt/pdf1sdip/2007/04/07700/24852494.pdf
6. http://www.expatforum.com/expats/portugal-expat-forum-expats-living-portugal/88469-fishing-portugal-fishing-permits.html
7. http://www.cacasubmarina.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=compact&order=ASC&topic_id=1453&forum=22&menumode=0
8. http://www.portugal-info.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4011&highlight=fishing
9. http://www.expatforum.com/expats/portugal-expat-forum-expats-living-portugal/126530-clarification-foreign-tourists-getting-spearfishing-licence.html
10. http://www.expatforum.com/expats/portugal-expat-forum-expats-living-portugal/88469-fishing-portugal-fishing-permits.html#post599587

UK

• No license is required, although I could not find a link.

Malta

• No license for spearfishing, see here
• Subsidiary Legislation 425.01 - Fishery Regulations
• Subsidiary Legislation 425.01 - Fishery Regulations (another version)
• General Malta Fishing Laws (Official)

Gibraltar

• No licence is needed in Gibraltar (like the rest of the UK), but Spanish police patrols and lots of boat traffic can make it difficult, see here

Greece

• A fishing licence is needed in Greece to spearfish. Licences are obtained from local port authorities or the local coast guard office and are valid for two years. These offices can be found in all ports. The licence is relatively quick to secure and can be obtained in as little as 15 minutes, licences are not available to non-EU citizens. You will need:

          -  Two passport-type photographs
          -  Their AFM (tax roll) number. To get an AFM as a tourist is a pain, in some places (Thassos,
             Thessaloniki, Galaxidi, Mytilini (Lesvos)) they don't ask for it, in others they do...good luck...
          -  Photocopy of their ID card, if Greek, or passport, if an EU citizen
          -  Applicants under the age of 18 also need written permission from their parent/guardians
          -  To pay a fee (around €20-€30)

• Licence holders must also hold a booklet on fishing that is available from the port authorities and which can be picked up when the licence is bought
• Spearfishing is not allowed anywhere in Greece during the month of May
• You can only use a mechanical means of spearfishing (no CO2/Compressed air)
• It is illegal to spearfish with any kind of underwater light source such as a flashlight or torch at any time of the day